A personal automotive history (pic heavy)

[Sailor]

Friends of ours were doing well in Milan. We were doing well in London. We’d visit as often as we could. This little darling was garaged over there for when we needed it.
Crash gearbox. Rev the nuts off it. Great fun.
Pretending to be a local when driving past Il Duomo? Paarp! Paarp!




As well as the Minor saloons, there were also a couple of Travellers.




She looked at the battered driver’s door and said she still wanted to buy it. I said I’d fix it. I never got round to it. Well, you couldn’t see the dent from the inside and the stately Rover was a nice place to be. We shared it willingly.




I probably shouldn’t include this one as I didn’t take responsibility for it as much as some of the other loan cars, but I did use it quite a bit. It’s in this list primarily because it’s the first Jap …

Dad decided to move on from the 1300 to a Renault 5. (Bless!) The dealer messed him about, so he pulled out of the deal. Some notes in his pockets, some notes in mine. A Toyota dealer with plenty of ready cars. “I’ll have that one.” A hefty discount later, we drove this away. It was a great little car.

[Sailor]

The Rover was replaced by this. Good if a bit old-fashioned engine; gearbox needed work. I had to turn down a socket to get at one of the bolts when replacing a selector fork. It had so much ground clearance that you could do everything you need to drop the box without jacking the car up, but you still needed to lift the car to get the bell housing out!

[hondaman]

Sailor that is some car and bike history, it makes the 30+ cars and bikes i've had over the years seem quite small now

[Sailor]

I think I'm nearly halfway through ...

Where are you @hondaman ?
I'm sure my lad wouldn't mind a ride-out alongside you and your Fireblade.
D'you fancy the 'Ring in the second half of next month?

[Sailor]

My boss thought he was doing me a favour. “You’re doing a lot of company miles,” he said, “so I’ve got you a car.”




“I’ve spoken to my solicitor,” I told the boss. “He says having to drive an Allegro gives me grounds for constructive dismissal.”
“What! My wife thinks it’s a really nice car.”
So we swapped it for her 3 year old Citroen.




The GS was nice, but it wasn’t a much fun as this:-

[hondaman]

I think I'm nearly halfway through ...

Where are you @hondaman ?
I'm sure my lad wouldn't mind a ride-out alongside you and your Fireblade.
D'you fancy the 'Ring in the second half of next month?

I'm in Sussex, would have loved to do the Ring, but sadly i've had all my holiday for this year now

[Sailor]

I once spent every evening for a week rebuilding Solex 44PHH carburettors. No choice: even all that time ago it was £100 for a S/H pair or £800 for new …
More of the same was on its way. The SL could no longer be seen as a daily driver. In any case, the days of long, unbroken runs were rapidly dwindling and stop/start traffic was becoming ever more common.

The practical solution was an ugly but hugely underrated car. Among other things, I was running a project that meant I had to go from London to Caithness on a regular basis. And back. Other Maxi drivers used to wear hats and stay on the inside lane on motorways. I didn’t. The car didn’t seem to mind how it was driven.

I’ve had two. You should have one as well. Both of mine were white. Instead, why not get one in BL’s newborn’s diarrhoea colour that matched what the critics thought of it at the time?

Then drive it to Patagonia. You’ll get there.




One of my brothers ran this for ages before selling it to the other bro. I bought it a couple of years after that. It broke down on the way home. Comfy once it was working again.




Nearly another Moggy 1000, but with a bigger engine and body. This was a good daily driver until the brakes failed and I ran into the back of a friend’s MGA. I dragged it home and put it in a lock-up for a winter. Then sold it for the number plate. There were still broken eggs on the floor, by now extremely pongy.

[Kawa]

Interesting read

[Sailor]

The 400-4 had gone for a good price.
A while later, feeling the need for a bike again, I was going to go up a grade. Instead, I went for an affordable commuter.




A car like this one came up locally.
Torquey straight-six. Electric windows even! It felt like something out of American cop movies.
I couldn’t resist it. It couldn’t resist petrol stations.

[Sailor]

As I write this, I’m not sure if my eyes are watering in reaction to cigarette smoke, or because of something else.

The silliest thing I’ve ever done was to listen to her when she said: “We’re moving to a house that needs work; wouldn’t it be better to get rid of a car that needs work, too?”

I took this in part-exchange for the 190SL. Next time you see me, give me a (gentle) smack. I’ll know what I’ve done to deserve it. Vehicle No. 40 wasn’t one of Daimler Benz’s finest.




The Merc saloon’s engine blew up. I got it going again but it was never the same. One of these was much better. (Mine was dark blue with Rostyle wheels; I think I've still got one somewhere)